What happens when a mature woman falls victim to the allure of the modern Asian Ball Jointed Doll? Will the devious doll divas succeed in separating balljointedwoman from her hard earned cash? Which diva will earn herself a new fashion this week? Stay tuned for the latest installment of As the Resin World Turns.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

"Le Pantalon" for Soah

Le Pantalon equals trousers. I haven't made many for my girls. Part of the reason is my lack of patterns, part is my dislike of many of the pants patterns I see for sale. This one is from MHD Designs. I like her patterns and decided to give it a try.

I had been saving the gray-brown-blue striped fabric for just such a project. It was a remnant, so I wasn't sure I would have enough; as it turned out there was plenty. I have enough left over to make another pair of pants -- or a matching skirt. The blue suede-like fabric paired with it beautifully, and the cream color rib knit was perfect for the body suit and socks. (I wanted socks with this outfit because Soah's shoes are a little wide. LePantalon does not include socks, so I used the sock pattern pieces from MHD Designs' Spring Summer Body Shirts.)

This outfit incorporates a bit of nostalgia for me. The flower appliques came off my high school graduation gown. I attended a small school for girls. For graduation we did not wear traditional academic gowns. Instead, our floor-length gowns came from a bridal shop. They were white, very plain but with a row of blue and yellow flowers between two rows of baby blue piping accenting the high waist. A year later I shortened the dress, wore it a few times and then finally discarded it, saving only the appliques and some of the white linen from the bottom of the skirt. I never imagined I would reuse the flowers to dress a doll!

﻿Soah's shoes from Monique Trading.﻿

If you are a steady or even a sometime reader of this blog, you know that I generally find fault with printed patterns. Many times it is the pattern that is at fault; just as many times the fault is mine. I had only minor difficulties with this one. I am not in love with making tiny fabric loops to pair with buttons. I made the one for the pants, then thought I would try something different for the vest. (For "different" read "easier".) Why not take embroidery floss and crochet a chain to use as the loop? Nice idea in theory. In practice, I couldn't maneuver my smallest crochet hook through the slippery floss. Then I tried yarn, not crocheted into a chain but folded into a loop and sewn into the vest. Everything worked fine until I turned the vest right side out and the yarn slipped right out of the fabric. So much for that idea. That's how Soah's vest ended up having no closure at all. The buttons are there for show. I placed two on either side for balance and to give the illusion of a double breasted vest.

﻿

Wig from Iplehouse.

We are coming up on the shortest day of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere. It sure snuck up on me today. Even though Soah's outfit was finished, I was sewing a tee shirt for one of the boys as if I had all the time in the world, thinking I would stop around 3:30 p.m. and take pictures. By 3:45 the sun was dipping down behind the building across the street, long shadows stretched across my sewing table and my camera flash was going off with every other shot. PhotoShop saved enough pictures for me to post my blog. Nevertheless, next week I'll plan for an earlier photo shoot.